May 2019

Love, love, love how we get to celebrate the variety of sailing in the northeast. This issue races around Long Island with the USMMA vs the USNA, goes up to Marblehead to look at the history of one of boatings oldest organizations, back to Mystic for annual fun, looks at The Blue Plan for The Sound and then back up to RI to chat with a couple of characters from the Bay. We like to reflect that…

Slide Job! When looking at trimaran sites, I found your article on small tris. I didn’t notice any of Kurt Hughes’ designs there, but there may have been. I mention this because I have an 8.5 metre tri which uses the offset sliding beam idea that Hughes uses (he designed 19- and 31-foot tris with ‘sliding arms’) and it works well, bearing in mind that most people don’t fold (or slide) their boats very often. Cheers, Brian…

Margaritaville, the global lifestyle brand synonymous with fun and escapism, has signed on as the first presenting sponsor for the Storm Trysail Club’s Block Island Race Week XXVIII, which will be held June 23 – 28 in Block Island, RI. Margaritaville will transport Race Week sailors into the brand’s laid-back lifestyle. Live entertainment, the centerpiece of the brand, will take place on-site each day, along with exciting Margaritaville-inspired activities and promotions. The company’s Frozen Concoction Makers Nightly…

Oakcliff Sailing in Oyster Bay, NY has joined forces with US Sailing to host a High Performance Acorn Training Camp for aspiring Olympic athletes that take place June 7 – 20. In partnership with US Sailing’s Olympic Development Program (ODP), this camp will draw the top sailors from across America to train in Oakcliff’s fleet of six foiling Nacra 17s and nineteen 49ers and 49erFXs. The camp will provide the perfect platform for talented young sailors to step up from the…

Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, CT will present its 2019 America and the Sea Award to American businesswoman and philanthropist Wendy Schmidt. The prestigious award recognizes those individuals and organizations whose extraordinary achievements in the world of maritime exploration, competition, scholarship, and design best exemplify the American character. Schmidt is President of The Schmidt Family Foundation, which supports programs in renewable energy, healthy food and agriculture, and human rights. Schmidt Marine Technology Partners, an additional foundation program, supports the…

Hosted by the Bellport Bay Sailing Foundation and Bellport Bay Yacht Club in Bellport, New York, this inaugural junior sailing event honors the memory of John W. Everitt, a Past Commodore of BBYC and former President of the BBSF who loved being on the water and whose true passion was always one-design racing. Club 420, Optimist and Laser sailors will have access to high level coaching and elite competition in each respective class. Combining instruction by some…

Pettipaug Yacht Club in Essex, CT is hosting the Paul Risseeuw Junior Sailing Regatta on Sunday, August 4. Every summer, young sailors from around the area compete in this event, which honors the memory of a longtime Pettipaug Yacht Club member who devoted much of his life to making the sport safe and enjoyable for countless young people. “Paul did many things to promote junior sailing, and his passing in 2015 left large shoes to fill,” said…

The Cow Bay Cruising Association (CBCA; aka The Thirsty Thursday crowd) welcomes sailors from around Long Island Sound to give racing a try. “Thirsty Thursday is a group of friendly sailors who have been doing casual racing in Manhasset Bay for decades, and now is the time if you’ve been hesitating because we’re offering an unprecedented trial membership,” said CBCA Commodore Anthony Viola, skipper of the Beneteau 36.7 Forte. “The season of fun and friendly competition runs…

Presented by the Cruising Club of America with support from the Yacht Racing Association of Long Island Sound and hosted by the Gaelic-American Club in Fairfield, CT on Wednesday, May 8, this evening includes a presentation that invites you aboard, dispels myths, and offers robust discussion of past Newport Bermuda Races.   Guest Speaker W. Frank Bohlen, Professor Emeritus of Marine Sciences at UConn and a veteran of 18 Newport Bermuda Races, will give a presentation authored…

This year’s Mystic River Mudhead Sailing Association Spring Seminar, on Wednesday, May 8 at Shennecossett Yacht Club in Groton, CT, features a special presentation by Russian yacht designer Vlad Murnikov. Murnikov, an architect with a penchant for yacht design, began talking to friends about the upcoming 1989 -’90 Whitbread Round the World Race. The Soviet Union had never participated, but change was in the air. In two short years, Murnikov was able to put together a design team, build…